Silent Hill: The University
by ThatFanBoyGuy
Summary: A college student goes looking for his sister, and his friends look for him. This story is slightly an inside story because it puts my friends inside the horror of Silent Hill. Yet any Silent Hill fan will enjoy the references to their favorite old games. Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill, Konami, or any other references I make.
1. Chapter 1: The Awakening

Silent Hill: The University

_Chapter 1: Awakening_

"SILENT HILL! SILENT HILL!" Graham sat up straight in his bed, screaming those words over and over again. "SILENT HILL! SILENT HILL!"

"Wha, what?" his roommate Eric was woken up by Graham's continuous screaming. Eric wasn't sure if his roommate Graham was awake himself or still asleep, sleep talking during a nightmare. Eric got out of his bed and shook him gently with one arm.

"Woah, woah, man. What's happening? Are you dreaming? Are you awake? Tell me what's up, man?" he said as she shook his roommate. Graham was now wide awake, fully to his senses.

"What? What's happening?" Graham said, still a little drowsy, but now becoming fully awake and aware of his surroundings. "I thought I was…I could have sworn…I need to get up." Graham slid out of bed and walked grudgingly to the door to his dorm, opened it, and walked through the open door to the bathroom just across the dorm suite's hall. Eric, still worried about his roommate, followed him out. Graham was trying to wake up by splashing his face with hot water. The hot water was so hot from the sink that steam was fogging up the mirror. Eric stood by Graham. Graham seemed to be passing his hand over his face. His fingers would roll down face with every wipe.

"What are you trying to do? A magic trick where your nose magically disappears?" Eric jokingly said, trying to lighten the situation.

"Funny," Graham said sarcastically, giving Eric a cross between a weird look and evil stare. Graham went back to staring at himself in the mirror. "Ever have a dream that felt so realistic, you really thought it was real life?"

"Well, you did seem to be having quite the nightmare there," Eric stated. "You were rolling around in your sleep a lot last night. How 'bout you tell me about this dream of yours, and with my superior counseling skills I learned from Freud, I can interpret it."

"I can't remember it fully," Graham said, as he tried to recollect the nightmare. "All I can remember was a ritual at a crackling fire, a sad little boy standing over a babbling brook, children getting beaten up by adults, and a funeral burying someone. It just seemed so real that it was like I was literally transported there in my mind."

"Well remember, if you ever want to go back to your nightmare world, just touch the mirror, and you'll be transported there," Eric joked, taking a second crack at a joke.

"Very funny," Graham sarcastically said again, giving that same look as before. "Let's just get ready for class, alright? It's in a half hour."


	2. Chapter 2: Shattered Memories Origins

_Chapter 2: The Shattered Memories Origins_

It didn't take long for the guys to get dressed and ready for class. After all, they were guys. With backpacks on their back, they marched out the door onward to class.

"Hey, isn't Brady in our class?" Eric asked. Graham nodded his head in confirmation. "We should go get him. We don't want him missing so many classes like he did last semester."

The two men moved to the outside of Brady's apartment-like dorm, standing below the window to his bedroom. "Brady!" they yelled. "Class, Brady!" The window opened, but it wasn't their friend Brady. It was Brady's roommate Dennis. The guys below could tell Dennis had just woken up, as he was still in his bed clothes and he was still drowsy.

"Dennis! Where's Brady?" Eric cried out to the upstairs window.

"He's sleeping," Dennis yelled back down. "I don't blame him. He had a rough night last night. He was tossing and turning a lot in the lower bunk. He got up to walk around a few times, too." Graham and Eric glanced at each other at of the corner of his eye."

"Get him up," Graham commanded Dennis. "Brady missed too many classes last semester and we're not having him border academic probation or expulsion. We're starting this semester off right." Dennis shrugged his shoulder and went to do as he was told. Within minutes, Brady walked out the downstairs. His hair was matted up, he had a 5 o' clock shadow, and it was obvious his clothes had been thrown on. Graham and Eric exchanged an odd stare, and then they gave the odd stare to Brady.

"Umm, Brady, do you want to take a little more time to get ready for the day?" Eric asked his friend. "I don't think the professor will mind if we're just a little late in order to clean yourself up."

"No, it's fine," Brady said in a drowsy tone of voice. "Graham is right. Let's not be late on our first day."

"I didn't mean it that way," Graham said, quick to defend himself. "I'm not inhumane. Take your time to get yourself ready. Are you sure you're OK and ready?"

"Yeah, I'm alright and I'm ready to go." Brady said, trying to reassure his friends, but in a tired tone. "Let's get to class." And so the boys went to class.

The boys got to class with just a minute to spare. All the seats in the front rows were already occupied, so they slithered into the middle seats of the back row. None of them minded at all, though. Graham liked the back row because he could plug his laptop into the socket. Eric enjoyed the back row because the professors called on the back row people the least. Brady wanted the back row just in case he accidentally fell back asleep. Graham took a look around at the students in his class. All the students in front of him seemed excited and ready to go with this new class. The students on his left in the back row were either asleep or falling asleep. On the right to him were the disinterested students. They were awake, but they did not want to be there. Graham didn't know a lot of them, but the one he recognized was Micah. Micah had been in a few of Graham's classes before, and every time, he was quiet and he kept to himself. Those who knew him said he was a very nice man, but among those who did not know him, rumors circulated. What was up with this mysterious man?

At exactly the hour, when the class was to begin, the professor walked in. He was the stereotypical nerd all over, between the taped up glasses frames and the pens in the pocket with the pocket protector. As he set up, he brought out his laptop and his iTouch, further reinforcing the stereotype. The class came to a silent hush, and he began to talk.

"Good morning, class," he began. "My name is Dr. Louis Fritz, and this is 'Spiritual Growth in Discipleship' class. Welcome one, welcome all. Please pass around the syllabus I am handing out." One by one, copies of the syllabus slithered down the rows and a copy landed in the hands of each student. Once the professor saw every student had a copy, he continued to speak.

"In a way, this class will be your typical academic class, in which you will engage in tests, quizzes, homework and projects to demonstrate that you can articulate the knowledge given to you. But for the most part, this class is one of the most spiritual classes you'll take at LBC, for it will engage you to change your spiritual life for the better, to spiritually grow you to equip you in ministry and in service. We're not going to be able to grow spiritually unless we also grow socially, for fellowship among Christians is an important piece to spiritual growth. So let's put our syllabus aside and let's go down the rows and introduce ourselves. Tell us about how you got here. No, this is not, 'I got up out of my dorm and I walked to class.' This is your testimony, or your spiritual walk, from physical birth, to spiritual re-birth, to the present day, and why you are here."

One by one, the students went down the rows and shared their testimony on their spiritual life. For those who had heard a lot of testimonies before, they were the two stereotypes of testimonies. Some students told about their lives growing up in a Christian family and growing up in a church. These students had perfect attendance in church and Sunday. They had gone to every church retreat and every church missions trip. They were here at Bible College because they accepted Christ and want to keep on the tradition. Other students talked about living lives with addictions to sex, drugs or partying. Those students gave stories about hitting rock bottom and a divine intervention leading them to God. They gave their life to Jesus during high school, and to thank Jesus for salvation after being at such a low point, they devoted their lives to advancing the kingdom of God. Either way, both of them were the stereotypes of Christian testimonies, which made many students zone out or doze off. Finally, it circled around to the back row. The first up was Micah.

"Micah, it's your turn," Professor Fritz announced, trying to motivate him. "Where are you from?"

"Somewhere on the Milky Way Galaxy," Micah replied, uninterested. Giggles followed.

"Alright then," Dr. Fritz continued to beckon, trying not to get flustered at Micah's attitude. "So how did you get here, and why are you here?"

Micah answered, "I went to preschool. When I finished that, I went to elementary school. When I finished that, I went to middle school. When I finished that, I went to high school. When I graduated from high school, I thought I'd give college a try. Wahoo, more schooling!" More giggles followed from the sarcasm. A few students were even ticked that Micah was taking such a serious moment so lightly.

"Ah, one of those students, I see," Mr. Fritz commented. "Well, I think we'll develop a friendship, you'll see. I'll keep in touch with you. Moving on, next is Brady. Brady, I hope you can give us a better life story than Micah did."

"Well, I don't remember much, but I'll try," Brady began with a stutter, but came to normal speech. "I grew up in a family of four. It was my dad, my mom, my twin sister, and me. My twin sister and I were very close. We weren't just twins, but also best friends. I can remember the fun we had as children. We'd going swimming in the creek, hiking in the woods, catching butterflies and lightning bugs, and we'd cook hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. We had a fun childhood. But I can't remember our teen years. The little I can remember are fragments of shattered memories. I can briefly and vaguely remember all the adults huddling around the bonfire, then they stood over a brook, then they stood in a windy field, and finally they huddled into the commentary."

"Do you know how you got here?" Professor Fritz asked. "At what point can you recollect memories?"

"Well, I guess," Brady said thoughtfully, "the first memories I can re-collect was a widespread fire that consumed my hometown. My parents were consumed in that fire, but my twin sister and I escaped, even though I escaped unharmed and my sister suffered from severe burns. I was separated from my sister because my sister had to go to an intensive care hospital, while I was fine with a routine checkup. I haven't heard from my twin sister since. I was adopted, so I assumed my sister also was."

"That's funny," Graham said. "I have many similar shattered memories…"

"Well, you are next in line to share," Prof. Fritz said. "So Graham, continue this time with your story."

"Well," Graham said, "I honestly have shattered memories like Brady does, if not worse. I too remember those shattered memories in my origins. The adults in my hometown were also always sneaky. They were always huddled in the oddest places, like fires, bodies of water, in windy fields, in the woods, or even in the cemeteries. I too can recall a fire burning down my whole town. I remember a lot of those adults died, but most of the kids survived. All the kids were put up for adoption, including myself. I was adopted into a strict Christian home. They made sure I knew my Bible, knew my Biblical theology and knew my Biblical doctrine. It's like they were trying to cover something up or prevent something from happening to me…"

"Hmm, interesting, very interesting," Louis Fritz remarked. "Your shattered memories pieced with Brady's shattered memories might reveal you two grew up in the same home town. Perhaps both of you have shattered memories because your brains are repressing a majority of the bad memories from the events that happened in the town." Graham and Brady looked at each other and shrugged, entertained by the possibiltity.

"In fact," Louis continued, "I wouldn't be surprised if you had a closer connection to the school." Both Brady and Graham gave the professor an odd look, baffled at his comment. The Prof continued further, "Since we're running short on time, let me jump to the story about this college. As a class, we must know the story about the college if we truly want to interact and grow from it. Most written history will tell you this college has been around for 75 years, but truth to be told, it was founded 100 years ago, but not as a college. 100 years ago, LBC was founded by a cult from a small town in Maine known as Silent Hill." At hearing the word, a cold shiver went down Graham's spine, and he shivered. He glanced over and saw Brady do the same thing.

Fritz continued onward, "The people didn't begin as a cult, though. They actually left the town in order to get away from the cult. But when they were unable to become successful financially as their neighbors in their new home in Pennsylvania, and when their wealthy neighbors began to look down on them, they reasoned their hometown gods were unhappy, so they began worshipping them again. LBC began as a commune for the new settlement of the cult. That's why most of the dorms here look like apartments…they _were_ apartments for the people to live in. The cafeteria is where the people ate as a community. The library was full of books on rituals and sacraments of the cult, and they were all performed in the chapel. When the people began the cult worship, it seemed like they were equal with their neighbors. But it wasn't because they had become better, but rather their neighbors were becoming worse. The powers of the cults' gods were bringing and carrying the surrounding towns down. Lancaster County became a pit of darkness. But that all changed when Mr. Hedyt, the first college president came to town. By calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he cast out the demons that were coming from the cult. But Mr. Hedyt knew that it was no good to just take the demons out, but he needed to put the Holy Spirit in. A majority of the people of the cult came to the light and came to accept Jesus. But a minority of the cult welcomed their demons back and moved to Centralia, Pennsylvania, in order to re-establish the cult in Pennsylvania. While it lasted longer than it did in Lancaster, Centralia also had a tragic loss. The coal mine under the town caught fire, burning the whole town alive. It is believed that the remainder of the cult died in that fire. The only survivors were children, and following the lead of Mr. Hedyt, they were all put in strong Christian families, to make sure God and his angels were protecting them from the demons of the cult. I wouldn't be surprised, Brady and Graham, if you are children that survived that fire from Centralia, Pennsylvania.

At that moment, the clock struck nine o' clock, and the students quickly got up to leave class and go to chapel. Some of students whispered and mumbled to one another, believing Mr. Fritz was crazy. After all, the story of cult worship was new to them. Could he be making it up? As Brady and Graham walked by, Professor Fritz said to them, "I have a feeling we'll be talking more in the future, too."


	3. Chapter 3: The Search for Brady

Chapter 3: The Search for Brady

Professor Fritz's story sent chills down Brady's and Graham's spine for the rest of the day, but by the next day the boys quickly forgot about it and went on with their regular lives of classes, eating, sleeping and socializing. The guys got together in Dennis and Brady's dorm for a friendly game of Mario Party, but after one game, Brady said he felt tired, so the rest of them left Brady alone to sleep.

The following day Eric and Graham once again got up, got ready, and went to meet Brady, in order to help Brady keep up with his attendance. "Brady!" they yelled. "Class, Brady!" The window opened, but it wasn't their friend Brady. It was Dennis again. Once again, they asked Brady about his whereabouts.

"I don't know," Dennis said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What do you mean, 'You don't know?'" Graham inquired.

"'I don't know' means 'I don't know,'" Dennis answered. "Last night, about 9:00 p.m., Brady said he forgot to check his school mail and he wanted to go check it. He put on his shoes and jacket, and then he dashed out the door. That's the last I've seen of him."

"Aren't you concerned where Brady is?!" Eric asked, with a hint of worry in his voice."

"I assumed he was with you," Dennis replied with apathy. "Besides, Brady is a grown man. He can take care of himself. Am I my brother's keeper… or my roommate's keeper?"

Eric did not like this answer. "We got to contact the police," he told Graham. "We got to file a missing persons report." From up top in the window frame, Dennis overheard what Eric told Graham and shouted back, "Umm, we technically can't file a missing persons report until he's been gone a full 24 hours, and Brady has barely been gone for even 12 hours." Eric yelled back in shock, "What? Are you kidding me? Our friend is missing!" "No, he's got a point…" Graham said calmly. The three young men disputed back and forth about this for a few minutes, and after much arguing, they eventually reached a compromise that they would report it to Brady's RA Greg immediately, and if nothing came up in another 12 hours, they would contact the police. Dennis opened the dorm entrance for Eric and Graham and the 3 young men went to Greg's dorm. Dennis softly knocked once and waited, but an impatient Eric knocked hard three times, and then yelled out Greg's name at the top of his lungs. He repeated this until Greg answered the door. When he answered, he looked tired, and not fully into it.

"Woah, Eric, keep it quiet, my roommate Dylan is trying to sleep," Greg said quietly. "What's up you guys?" he asked.

"Brady's been missing for 12 hours, and I think we should file a missing persons report, but no one else wants to do anything about it," Eric said, trying not to raise his voice to loud. "It's not I don't want to do anything about it," Dennis quickly chimed in, defending himself. "I just simply said a missing persons report can't be filed because he wasn't missing for over 24 hours yet." Graham also quickly inserted in defense, "And I just merely agreed with Dennis."

"I know emotions are high here, but let's think logically here," Greg responded, cool, calm and collect. "Indeed, Dennis and Graham are right; the law will not allow to file a missing persons report until 24 hours have passed. However, that doesn't mean we can't do anything now. Let's split up and search the campus. Dennis, look for Brady in the cafeteria. Eric, you look for Brady in the library. Graham, look for Brady in the gym. I'll look for Brady in the chapel. After your search, everyone meet back here to report if you find Brady or any clues about where Brady might be."

After receiving their assignments, the men dashed off their respective positions.

"Brady! Braaaadddyyyy!" Graham shouted running throughout the gym.

"Brady, where are you?" Greg yelled in the chapel.

"Brady! Brady! Brady!" Eric loudly whispered in the library, not to disturb anyone.

"How ya doin'?" Dennis said flirtatiously to the blonde girl having breakfast.

The boys all returned to the front entrance of the dorm hall, and none of them had anything to report back. Yet Greg remained cool, calm and collect, and he quickly thought up the next plan of action.

"Alright, I got it," Greg announced. "If Brady is not on campus, then he didn't get far off campus because he doesn't have a car. So let's extend our search slightly outside the boundaries of campus. Graham, search for Brady north of campus until you reach the church. Eric, look east of campus until you reach the park. Dennis, see if you can find Brady south of campus, until you reach the mall. I will go west of campus, until I hit the gas station convenience store where everyone hangs out. Same time as last time, we'll meet back at the entrance to this dorm. But this time, let's all exchange cell phone numbers just in case someone else gets lost or someone finds something important."

The gentlemen made sure they had each other's cell phone numbers. Once they did, they each went on their separate directions.

"Brady! Braaaadddyyyy!" Graham shouted running around the church.

"Brady, where are you?" Greg yelled at the gas station.

"Brady! Brady! Brady!" Eric screamed in the park.

"So what's your name?" Dennis said flirtatiously to the brunette girl walking in the mall.

Eric was getting worn out. His legs were worn out from running around the park so many times over. His voice was worn out from yelling Brady's name so many times over. He was tired, but he wanted to continue to help find his friend. In one last desperate attempt, Eric got up to the highest hill on the park, and with all his remaining voice, he screamed out one more time, "BRADY!"

"Eric?!" A voice yelled back from behind him. It wasn't Brady's voice. It wasn't even a male voice. It was a female voice. Eric turned around to see Emerald, and immediately Eric felt awkwardness. Emerald was a classmate of his. They were on-and-off friends, on-and-off dating, and on-and-off everything in between. Emerald could feel how awkward Eric felt, and immediately the awkward feeling fell on her, too.

"Umm, hey," Eric spoke, trying to break the awkward silence, which was making the scene even more awkward. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," Emerald said, a little off-guard from the question. "Well, I find the park peaceful and quiet, and a good way to get away from it all. What brings you here?"

"Well," Eric said, and then paused shortly to consider if making up a story so to not raise alarm would be a better option. But thinking of no better story, Eric came out with the truth. "I'm looking for Brady. Have you seen him?"

"Oh," Emerald was once again caught off-guard by the question. She felt even more awkward by it. Rumor was circulating the college campus that Brady and Emerald were an item. Was her ex trying to instigate about the rumor? "No, I haven't seen him," replied Emerald, a little apprehensive.

"Well, if you hear from him, please tell me," Eric said. At that minute, Eric's cell phone started ringing. He looked down on it, to see Graham calling, setting up a conference call with all four of the guys. "I got to take this," Eric said to Emerald.

"Well, I need to be getting back to the college anyway," Emerald said, glad to get out of the conversation. "Good luck find Brady. I will find you if I find him." Then Emerald quickly ran away. Eric wanted to say something, anything, back in return to relieve the tension, but his continuous ringing cell phone reminded him to keep his mind on searching for Brady.

When Eric picked up, he heard Graham say, "Meet me at the church. I've found something interesting. You might want to see this."

Dennis, Eric and Greg met Graham at a hill that overlooked the whole church.

"I searched until I reached the church, and I found nothing," Graham said, "so I thought I would look in the church. I searched the church, but I found nothing, so I thought I would look around the church. Found nothing in the church parking lot, found nothing in the church playground, but when I got to the church cemetery, I found this…" and Graham pointed below to the cemetery.

There in the middle of the cemetery sat Brady, sitting down in the fetal position, arms wrapped around his legs, rocking. He sat in front of a small grave stone, so old that the writing had been worn away over time.

"I've never seen Brady like this, so I didn't know what to do. So I just called for you guys," said Graham.

"Ugh, Graham, I know you're scared of social situations, but this just ridiculous. Have you simply tried talking to him?" Eric said. Graham, a bit annoyed at Eric's tone, just shook his head in silence. "Stand back," Eric announced, "and watch me and my superior counseling skills take care of this." The three men walked to where Brady was and stood behind him.

"Hey Brady, ol' pal, ol' friend of mine, whatcha doing here?" Eric asked Brady in the most friendly way possible. Brady did not respond. It was as if he was in trance, locked on to staring at that worn blank tombstone.

"Smooth superior counseling skills," Graham said to Eric, drooling with sarcasm.

"Oh shut up," Eric snapped back at Graham. "We just move on to the next step: personal, physical contact." Eric turned to Brady and said, "Hey Brady, what's up?" He reached out his hand to lay his hand on Brady's shoulder.

The second Eric laid his hand on Brady's shoulder, Brady jumped up and screamed, "AAHH!" Brady's startled reaction caused the three guys to also jump back and scream "AAHH!" The men just stared at Brady, and Brady just stared back. Although Brady's eyes were off the gravestone and on his friends, he was still in his trance.

"I'm looking for my sister!" Brady said with a loud voice, still in his trance. "It's been so long since I've seen her! Have you seen her? Huh? Huh?!" The boys didn't know how to respond to Brady's weird trance behavior.

"Oh forget this," Dennis said with great impatience. "I got a better definition of personal, physical contact." At that, Dennis slapped Brady across the face.

"What the hell?!" Eric snapped, in surprised response.

"Thanks Dennis, I needed that," Brady said, now out of his trance. The guys were no longer thinking about what Dennis did; now all attention was on Brady. Questions began to flow out Brady's friends' mouths. "Why are you here?" "How did you get here?" "I thought you were going to check your mailbox. What happened?"

"Well," Brady began. "I did go to my mailbox, and when I got there, I got a letter. It was my sister Trisha." Upon hearing this, Eric and Graham stood there with their eyes and mouth wide open. They remembered what Brady said about his sister in class.

"Do you have it with you?" Eric asked Brady.

"No, I left back at the dorm," Brady answered Eric. "But those words will haunt me forever. I don't think I'll forget what it said."

"What did it say?" Graham asked Brady in curiosity.

"Dear Brady," Brady cleared his throat and began reading the letter from his memory. "In my restless dreams, I see that town: Silent Hill. You promised you take me there again someday, but you never did." Brady paused to clear his throat again, and his facial expression changed. "Well you suck, Brady, you suck and I hate you!" Brady recited in a loud, angry voice. He breathed deeply and continued much more calmly, "I stole your wallet. Come to our special place if you want it back. Hint: It's not Vegas. Love, Trisha." The guys just stood there in stunned silence. After another brief pause, Brady spoke again, "It's true. I can't find my wallet anywhere."

"So you went to a graveyard to look for Trisha because that's your special place?" Greg asked, trying to understand Brady.

"If so, that's quite creepy," Eric interjected.

"What most people would call creepy, Tricia saw graveyards differently," Brady explained. "She liked graveyards. She thought they were peaceful and serene. With all the different shapes and sizes of the tombstones, they were like art to her. Besides…"

"Besides what?" Graham wondered.

"Well," Brady said, trying to find the words to explain himself, "I tried searching for Trisha during high school, and nothing came up. Although I don't like assuming the worse, I can't help but wonder if…she died."

"She can't be dead. Dead people can't write letters. It's illegal." Graham informed Brady.

"Logically speaking," Greg though out loud for Brad, "the special place must be Silent Hill. She mentioned it previously in the letter."

"Only one problem," Eric said, "There isn't exactly a Silent Hill, PA anymore. Dr. Heydt ended it here. We learned that in class."

"But we also learned in class," Graham quickly inserted. "That the remants of Silent Hill, PA went to Centralia, PA. Perhaps Trish wants you to meet her there Brady."

"Then what we'll have to do is go to Centralia, PA firs thing tomorrow morning," Eric planned, wanting to help his friend find his sister.

"Ummm, we all class tomorrow all day," Graham reminded Eric.

"Ok, even better, we'll all make a weekend trip up this week," Eric changed the plan.

"Actually, I can't," Greg said. "Between internship and volunteer work, I'm busy all weekend. I wish I could help, but I can't."

"I can't go either because… because… ummm… well, I just don't like getting up on Saturday mornings," Dennis said, excusing himself.

"Ok then," Eric quickly changed his plans again, "Graham and I will go up with you, Brady, to Centralia, PA to see if we can find Trisha." Graham nodded in agreement.

"You guys would really do that for me?" Brady asked, with a grin.

"Of course we would," Eric replied. "You're our friend. Friends stick with each other and help each other. Let's just go back to campus now and I promise we'll look for her first thing this upcoming Saturday."

Brady agreed. All 4 men walked back to campus together. The whole walk back, Brady had a huge smile on his face. He was finally going to find his sister.


End file.
